he_manfandomcom-20200213-history
Skeletor/Head
Skeletor's mysterious head seems to have no neck. In some episodes of He-Man Defenders of the Universe, Skeletor's hood is lifted, but the hood goes no more than under the bottom of Skeletor's head, which means either that his neck is covered in shadow or nonexistent. Most Common Theories The most common theories as to his head are as follows: *The neck is simply concealed *His head is floating as a result of magic Both of these theories have evidence in official media. Evidence In one episode of Filmation's series, titled "The Greatest Show on Eternia", Skeletor is seen unhooded in one scene in which he is shot into the air clinging to a giant firework, his hood being pushed back by air pressure exposing his skull. However, the hood is not pulled far back enough to reveal Skeletor's neck, or lack of one. Skeletor in the 2002 version of He-Man, Skeletor's, AKA Keldor, face was burned by acid during an attack on the Hall of Wisdom. It is unknown if his head is magically floating somehow, getting his body to work, or it just never shows his neck to look rather maniacal. The scene of Hordak transforming Keldor into Skeletor in The Price of Deceit is the only depiction to date of a completely hoodless "classic"-style Skeletor. Thus, the MYP series' clarification of the nature of Skeletor's head as a magically floating skull with no visible connecting tissue, or even any exposed spinal column for that matter, is the first such explanation of how Skeletor's fleshy body actually connects to his skull. However, this "magical floating skull" version is not necessarily what was intended for previous depictions of the character, who may have had neck tissues which reached to the base of his skull before giving way to exposed bone in either a withered or grisly manner, which could explain the wearing of a concealing hood on an otherwise scantily-clad body. Interestingly the toy version of Skeletor in New Adventures, which was intended to be a continuation of the original 1980s toyline/Filmation cartoon continuity, does have visible flesh on his neck which even reaches up to cover the back of his head almost to the crown, as if having regrown. However, since the original Skeletor is rarely shown without his hood it is conceivable that this flesh had always been present and merely hidden. In the New Adventures cartoon however, Skeletor has a neck made from flesh, but his head is simply a skull, in later episodes his helmet is destroyed, revealing a bald skull with ragged hair emerging from it. The only apparent contradiction to this appears in the storybook-comic The Power of Point Dread/Danger at Castle Grayskull in which Skeletor's hood falls back but it still rests only just past his crown and thus is relatively inconclusive about the status of his neck. The two first "New Adventures" minicomics, The New Adventure and Skeletor's Journey briefly show the injured Skeletor without his cowl, the second showing him even with ears. It is also noteworthy that although the Filmation, MYP cartoons, and all comic books have depicted Skeletor's visible skull as a uniform color of yellow or bone-white, both of the original 1980s and the initial 2002 toys of Skeletor actually feature a skull that is only yellow in the center of the face. These toys, which are after all what the surrounding media are all based upon, actually show the head colored green around the edges of the face, perhaps suggesting that the rest of the hooded skull might be green. Interestingly however, the New Adventures Skeletor's aforementioned flesh on the back of his head does not directly give way to the yellow bone, but rather has an intermediary area of green color. This could explain the green edges to the classic Skeletor toy's face and is entirely consistent with the above theory that he may have always had only his face devoid of flesh rather than his entire head, although it is unknown whether this was the original intent. It has never been clarified as to what extent any version of Skeletor is supposed to have remaining fleshy matter in his head, and thus to what extent Skeletor retains normal biological functions, if any. All versions of Skeletor, apart from the 1987 film and New Adventures of He-Man, depict him as having clearly empty eye sockets, sometimes with either permanently or intermittently visible glowing points of scarlet energy instead of actual biological eyes. However it has never been clarified whether he has a tongue and thus if he talks by magical means, because while it is possible to speak without lips, one still requires a tongue, or whether he needs to eat or drink. The last pilot episode of the MYP series doe however depict Skeletor enjoying some manner of warm drink. Although Skeletor can clearly hear, he has never been depicted as having ears. He does seem to have a sense of smell though, as he is shown in the 2002 MYP series attempting to block his nose when Stinkor appears before him to beg a boon, which has some logic as his skull would still have nasal passages permitting him to breathe, if he in fact still needs to. Speculation Some fans have suggested that Skeletor may be an undead fantasy creature called a lich due to the fact that in the MYP version of the mythos, he died or came close to it, only to have his mortal body kept alive in an inhuman state by dark magic. In a similar fashion, certain powerful wizards/clerics in the popular role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons extend their existences via undeath (becoming liches) and such creatures share many physical appearance traits with Skeletor, as well as the magical aptitude. These liches are often seen drinking wine, sheerly for the pleasure of it, and they can also smell, though they fear no scent, nor need to drink or breathe Category:S